Democracy Research Articles

Democratic Values ​​in Education: A Study of Islamic Religious Higher Education in Indonesia

The reform era followed by the era of globalization and digitalization can affect the values of democracy in education, so special treatment is needed so that the values of democratization in education can be in line with the nation's ideals. The Independent Learning Curriculum is an innovation by the government to respond to challenges, adjust to the times, and implement democratic values effectively. The theoretical basis is used as a guide so that the research focuses on the facts in the field. Apart from that, the theoretical basis is also helpful in providing a general overview of the setting research and as material for discussing research results. This research method uses a descriptive qualitative approach. The library research method is used for data collection techniques. The research results show that the democratic values ​​implemented in higher education continue to be carried out by improving various academic and non-academic activities to improve the quality of learning. Democratic values ​​are not only implemented in curriculum innovation. Still, they are also implemented in student organizational structures and learning processes so that applicable legal regulations can run the implementation of democracy and the direction of education.

Egypt's Post-Arab Spring Revolution Explanation for Democratisation Failure

The Arab Spring phenomena fueled international confidence in the Middle East's democratization process. The democratic election of Muhammad Morsi (Muslim Brotherhood) as President of Egypt was one of the Arab Spring Revolution's most significant victories. However, on July 3, 2013, General Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi, the Head of Egypt's Armed Forces, conducted a coup to topple Morsi's rule. That action is incompatible with democratic principles. The failure of this democratization process is the primary subject of this research. The purpose of this article is to understand the contributing causes to Egypt's democratization failure following the Arab Spring movement of 201. The author explains the phenomena using a qualitative technique with Miles and Huberman's descriptive-analysis methodology, as well as three theories: Seymour Lipset's modernization theory, Huntington's political actor theory, and Philip C. Schmitter's international environment theory. This report discovered that three causes contributed to Egypt's democratization failure: a lack of economic conditions, a relationship between the MB (Muslim Brotherhood) and Salafis, a lack of international backing, and GCC state meddling.

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT: INTERACTION CHANNELS AND THEIR EFFECTIVENESS

Modern technologies and the Internet have significantly altered how people, organizations, and governments interact. Social media platforms have evolved beyond personal communication tools to become powerful instruments for public administration. They enable governments to communicate more effectively with citizens, enhance transparency, and engage the public in governance processes. However, challenges exist in optimizing these tools. This article aims to analyze the role of social media in public administration, identify the most effective channels of interaction, and propose recommendations for their use. It emphasizes the need to enhance government communication strategies to meet rising citizen expectations regarding transparency and accessibility of administrative services. Research reveals that social media allows governments to rapidly disseminate information on emergencies, new laws, and policies, thereby reducing the time needed to inform the public and increasing their engagement. The ability to organize public discussions, gather feedback, and conduct surveys via social media fosters a more democratic and inclusive governance process. In addition to benefits, the article highlights potential risks of using social media in public administration, such as cybersecurity issues, personal data protection, and the spread of misinformation. Authors recommend developing strategies to minimize these risks and maximize the positive impact of social media on public administration processes. In conclusion, the article convincingly underscores the significance of social media as tools of modern governance, contributing to increased efficiency, transparency, and openness of government structures to the public

‘We’ve Been Left Out’: women’s refuges in Northern Ireland, 1974–2008

Abstract With histories of late-twentieth-century Northern Ireland1 consumed with political violence, and studies of the contemporary women’s movements in Britain only recently shifting their focus beyond London, Northern Irish women’s refuges have been obscured from historical view. This article proposes that re-situating women’s refuges in the context of the Troubles can enrich our understanding of the refuge movements, and wider women’s activism, across the UK at the turn of the twenty-first century. Drawing from archived and original interviews as well as documentary sources, the article traces the development of the Northern Irish refuge movement over four key periods: early years (1974–83), cross-community organizing (1983–93), development (1993–8), and efforts for diversity and inclusion (1998–2008). Such a chronology challenges the perception of the 1980s as an era of division and decline for UK feminism, and highlights the value of moving away from overarching chronologies of women’s activism towards more localized timelines. Furthermore, re-contextualizing women’s refuges in the battleground of the Troubles offers new evidence of their efforts to reduce domestic abuse, bring together women from opposing communities, and rebuild a democratic society. These activities contributed to the ‘vernacular’ peace process taking place in Northern Ireland’s voluntary sector, and suggest that refuges across the UK were similarly engaged in a peace process addressing violence in the home.

The Ecclesiastical Impact: Exploring the Role of Christian Church in Democracy Development in Nigeria

This research investigates the multifaceted role of Christian church in the development and consolidation of democracy in Nigeria. Through a comprehensive analysis of scholarly literature, empirical data, and case studies, the study aims to elucidate the various dimensions of the church's influence on democratic processes, institutions, and norms in the Nigerian context. Specifically, the research will examine how Christian churches contribute to promoting democratic values, civic education, moral leadership, peace-building, social welfare initiatives, and political engagement. By employing a mixed-methods approach, including qualitative interviews, surveys, and content analysis of church statements and activities, the study seeks to provide empirical evidence and theoretical insights into the mechanisms through which the church impacts democracy development in Nigeria. The findings of this research will have implications for understanding the complex dynamics of religion and politics in Nigeria and inform policy and practices aimed at strengthening democratic governance and pluralism in the country.

The Influence of Partisanship on Assessments of Promise Fulfillment and Accountability

I draw together theories of partisan polarization and motivated reasoning, which suggest that partisanship shapes information processing, and theories of accountability, which argue voters hold elected officials accountable through promise fulfillment. Here, I ask how partisanship influences voter understanding of promise fulfillment and accountability and if voters assess promises through a partisan lens. Two original survey experiments test how respondents react to promise fulfillment on the issues of immigration and human trafficking. I demonstrate that co-partisans differentiate between kept and broken promises, but out-partisans do not. Despite partisan differences, respondents evaluate promise-keeping when asked about accountability but not when asked about approval. Thus, even when voters recognize broken promises, accountability is influenced by partisanship. Immigration, a more polarized issue, is more likely to prime a partisan response than human trafficking, a less polarized issue. Future work must account for partisanship in accountability and what this means for our understanding of fundamental democratic principles.

Meaningful Participation as People's Sovereignty Form in Democratic Rule of Law State

Meaningful Participation as People's Sovereignty Form in Democratic Rule of Law State

The deformation of democracy in the United States: When does bureaucratic “neutral competence” rise to complicity?

AbstractRecent years have seen a step‐change in the severity and nature of threats to United States democracy, including extensive efforts by elected officials to undercut democratic governance. When elected officials undermine democracy, this constitutes “deformation of democracy.” As implementors and agents of policy, public administrators can sometimes play essential roles as bulwarks against democratic deformation. However, among public administrators there is historically a strong ethos emphasizing neutral competence and subordination to political authority, in some cases reinforced by law. How should public administrators respond when confronted by deformation and, at the same time, constrained by tradition and law? We selectively review strands of public administration theory, focusing on theory especially relevant to the United States governmental system, to construct and assess a catalog of responses that public administrators can take under democratic deformation. We conclude by offering a set of recommendations focused on institutionalized collective action by public administrators.

THE COLLAPSE OF MODERN DEMOCRACY

This scientific article will demonstrate the birth, evolution and crisis of modern democratic regimes. As notorious knowledge, democracy arose from the fall of the monarchical absolutist regime, when human rights appeared accompanied by constitutionalist movements. The evolution was gradual, the result of the social demands that emerged, noting at first the French ideological tripod, namely, freedom, equality and fraternity, reflecting on the social constitutions of social character. It turns out that with the increase of social demands, the state apparatus itself became unable to meet them, despite the existence of social constituent letters enumerating a catalog of human rights. Thus there is the occurrence of the phenomenon of apparent democracy, in which there is a constitutionally foreseen sequence of human rights, together with appropriate legislations, but are not met by the public power, collapsing the system. At the same time, other elements that contribute to the end of democracies are observed, and can point out the partisan political articulations, the search for perpetuation in power, the confidential meetings, the votes for a certain matter and so on that configure what they are what Political scientist Norberto Bobbio defines how the “rules of the game” democratic. Finally, it is appropriate to mention the occurrence of the invisible power of democracy, where not only the subjects hides, but also the content of decisions until the moment they must become public, always having other objectives.

Revolutionising the Indian Government School System with the Help of AI and other New Age Technological Developments

Education is essential for individuals to participate in a democratic society, enjoy their rights and fulfil their responsibilities. -John Dewey For a man to be able to negotiate a community life in fulfilling ways and develop a sense of autonomy is the elementary purpose of education. Hence a strong public education system is a requisite for the needs of all, even for the poor and marginalised sections of the society. The norm followed in India is to run behind private education institutes and run away from government schools because of the inadequate infrastructure and demotivated staff. Hence to break these shackles of stereotype mindset, implementing AI at government schools to maximise the quality of education and reach every part of the number one populous country stands important. Not just reaching a large number but also to alter the age-old pattern of learning, with the aid of new technologies and AI the learning process could be given a new direction where the needs of each learner will be met based upon their grasping and understanding of the subject. AI will also play a crucial role in beating the shortage of staff. Private organisations have adopted VR and AR to create immersive and engaging learning experiences, while other new-age technologies such as cloud computing, learning analytics, and blockchain are also used to achieve monopoly in the private education industry. The Indian government should invest in developing and implementing AI-powered learning platforms and other new-age technologies in government schools to serve every Indian who can not afford private institutions. The government should also provide training to teachers on how to use these technologies effectively with certification. By doing so, the Indian government can help to ensure that all students have access to a high-quality modern education. For a country as massive as India in terms of population and democracy both, implementing it is not an easy task, but if changes are made in the legislation to revolutionise the Government school system in India , days are not far where AI will take the whole education system on to an affirmative path. This whole research paper is an analysed perspective of the same topic.

Malaysia Madani Policy Concept in Kelantan State

PAS’s ruling from 1990 until now has caused the existence of two different Islamic government systems with the Federal Government in this country's democratic system. Objectively is to look at the fate of indigenous people in Malaysia Madani in terms of poverty, cost of living, affordable housing, soft prosperity, and the future of the young generation in Kelantan. The methodology of this study is to evaluate, observe and analyze every situation through qualitative approach. The result will impact on understanding and reform that needs to be done in improving the socio-life of the people of Kelantan in today's Malaysia Madani.

Electoral system: concept and elements

The article focuses on the approaches towards understanding the concept of the electoral system, which may be the subject of research outside the field of law. The author distinguishes different opinions of foreign and Ukrainian scholars on the term “electoral system”, in particular, narrow and broad interpretation. The author analyzes the elements which inherently fill and reveal the concept of the electoral system. The article provides an overview of scientific research and concepts that study electoral systems, including the works of prominent Ukrainian and foreign scholars, as well as documents of international organizations and institutions. The author analyzes different approaches to the interpretation of the concept of “electoral system”, its legal nature and key elements that have a significant impact on the formation of elected bodies and the organization of electoral processes, and further establishment of democratic principles. The author presents various positions on the elements through which the concept of the electoral system is revealed, such as the electoral formula, electoral district, method of expressing the will of voters, structure of the ballot and the process of filling it out, method of voting, etc. The author shows the importance of these elements and how they are reflected in the definition and modification of different types of electoral systems. The author emphasizes the need for further study of the concept of an electoral system and its system-forming elements, which allow constructing an appropriate type of electoral system, in the context of Ukraine’s experience in organizing and conducting elections. This will have a positive impact on the process of improving the electoral systems used in the formation of elected bodies at the legislative level, which will consequently contribute to ensuring greater transparency of a number of electoral procedures, obtaining fair results and minimizing the risks of their distortion. The author outlines the problem of periodic unsystematic changes in electoral systems in the formation of elected bodies in Ukraine, which in turn generates negative trends in the decline of citizens’ electoral culture, trust in the results of voters’ expression of will and unpredictable consequences in the socio-political context.

Political Parties' Right To Recall Against Legislative Members In The Perspective Of A Democratic Rule Of Law

Political Parties' Right To Recall Against Legislative Members In The Perspective Of A Democratic Rule Of Law

Do large language models have a legal duty to tell the truth?

Careless speech is a new type of harm created by large language models (LLM) that poses cumulative, long-term risks to science, education and shared social truth in democratic societies. LLMs produce responses that are plausible, helpful and confident, but that contain factual inaccuracies, misleading references and biased information. These subtle mistruths are poised to cumulatively degrade and homogenize knowledge over time. This article examines the existence and feasibility of a legal duty for LLM providers to create models that 'tell the truth'. We argue that LLM providers should be required to mitigate careless speech and better align their models with truth through open, democratic processes. We define careless speech against 'ground truth' in LLMs and related risks including hallucinations, misinformation and disinformation. We assess the existence of truth-related obligations in EU human rights law and the Artificial Intelligence Act, Digital Services Act, Product Liability Directive and Artificial Intelligence Liability Directive. Current frameworks contain limited, sector-specific truth duties. Drawing on duties in science and academia, education, archives and libraries, and a German case in which Google was held liable for defamation caused by autocomplete, we propose a pathway to create a legal truth duty for providers of narrow- and general-purpose LLMs.

Is Democracy Anti-intellectual? Tocqueville on the Life of the Mind in Modern Democracy

Is Democracy Anti-intellectual? Tocqueville on the Life of the Mind in Modern Democracy

A Democracy-Friendly Theory of the Rule of Law

The dominant way of thinking about the rule of law is that it is a constraint, a limit, on government. On this view the limitation applies with full force to all forms of government, democratic and undemocratic, and to both the executive and the legislative branches. The privileged institution for enforcing those limits is the courts. Democracy and the rule of law are, in effect, portrayed as though they were in opposition to one another. That, I claim, is a mistake (a) historically (for, in the Anglo-American tradition, the rule of law developed first as a restriction on an undemocratic executive, with a less undemocratic Parliament acting in concert with the courts to institute the rule of law); (b) in principle (for there is a strong argument that democracy needs the rule of law for its fullest expression, and the rule of law needs democracy); and (c) strategically (because it hinders us from mobilizing our full resources to protect both principles; this paper began its life as a response to populist movements, many of which, wrongly, are conceded to be democratic). In this paper I make that case, especially focusing upon its most controversial claim, namely that the rule of law needs democracy. This paper forms part of a larger project on democratic constitutionalism in which I reconsider key concepts in constitutionalism in a manner that takes democratic decision-making to be fundamental to contemporary constitutionalism.

Свобода слова в военное время: опыт Израиля

The article focuses on freedom of speech in the State of Israel in the context of the ongoing war with Hamas. Throughout its modern history the Jewish state has faced national security threats from some neighboring countries and military groups in the Middle East, that is why freedom of speech regulation has had to reflect these factors. However, parties’ compliance with the rules and customs of war (international humanitarian law) is not within the scope of this article. The first part of the study shows the evolution of the legislation, as well as key precedents of the Supreme Court of Israel, where the highest court of the land consistently considered freedom of speech as a core element of Israeli democracy. Then, the author moves on to current challenges, namely anti-war student protests on campuses and foreign media coverage of the war. Regarding freedom of speech at universities, Israeli legislation is quite ambiguous, leaving wide discretion to the administration of educational institutions and creating legal uncertainty. In contrast, foreign media face the opposite problem, i.e. the rigid regulation and military censorship. Consequently, both situations present equal challenges to freedom of speech in the country that require Israeli legislature and courts to act. In conclusion, the author fully acknowledges that the State of Israel, faced with military aggression, has a legitimate and justified interest in ensuring national security and it may lead to certain restrictions on freedom of speech. Meanwhile, it is important that such restrictions are clearly formulated in the statutes, balanced and proportionate. Today, more than ever, it is important that Israel preserves its democratic values that have always formed the very foundation of the Jewish state.

Europe Constructed, Europe Contested: Italian Media Responses to the Treaties of Rome

This article analyses Italian responses to the Treaties of Rome in 1957 by looking at media's role as a tool to both amplify voices and construct ideas on European integration. It attempts to expand upon and also challenges existing narratives on integration in Italy – which have tended to assume that ‘Euroscepticism’ largely emerged in a post-Maastricht context – by showing that the matter was already the source of significant politicisation and contestation, and that political actors used the outlets at their disposal to influence public opinion. Indeed, the Italian media conversations enveloping the Treaties of Rome – at a time when the introduction of RAI television was revolutionising the media landscape, and the Treaties were broadcast and politicised as a landmark event – highlight the variety of visions of European integration that had emerged. On the one hand, the ruling Christian Democratic government had radio and television under its harness, and used these channels to push a pro-integrationist orthodoxy on the Italian public. Nevertheless, we also see dissenting visions expressed in much of the printed press, not only from the anti-Western Communists and Socialists, but also from a broad church including neo-fascists, monarchists and even federalists. The article crucially finds that there was a deliberate effort by government-aligned journalists to marginalise – rather than engage with – any dissenting views on European integration.

Regulatory Framework Governing the Right to Information in the United Arab Emirates: An Analytical Examination

The right to access information empowers citizens to gather knowledge about events and issues, shaping their opinions and participation in public life. Globally, there is a push to recognize this vital right for its role in promoting democratic governance and protecting human rights, with countries varying in how they legally ensure it.This research aims to examine the issue of the right to information in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) across three dimensions. Firstly, we explore the requirements and restrictions associated with this right. Secondly, we delve into the limitations imposed on the freedom to obtain information. Lastly, we discuss the conditions essential for exercising this right.The analytical method was employed to scrutinize various texts addressing the right to access information in the UAE, providing insights into the research problem. The study yielded several results, highlighting a crucial finding: The necessity of amending the guideline to distinguish between ordinary and exceptional circumstances, both when submitting a request for information and in terms of the impact of exceptional circumstances on this right and the amount of information to be disclosed by the administration.

Internal governance challenges of young independent coffee cooperatives in south‐west Ethiopia

AbstractThis study analyses the internal governance practices of coffee marketing cooperatives in south‐west Ethiopia. The investigation argues that there is a need to go beyond democratic governance practices in order to understand the governance of these cooperatives working in multi‐stakeholder environments where the state is powerful and intervenes in their operations. The study concludes that the actions of internal and external actors have resulted in unique governance structures that profoundly influence their operations.